Many different devices are known which use a connection through a user's local network. Conventionally, these devices identify themselves to the network, using a network identification scheme such as an Internet address or IP address. IP addresses are intended to be unique addresses which are used by the system only once, never to be used again. DHCP servers automatically assign IP addresses to devices on the network.
The addresses may include an outside address, e.g., of the network itself, as well as the IP address of the internal device on the network, in order to contact or unambiguously describe the device.
Many such devices which assign IP addresses have a limited bank of numbers that they can use. In any case, it becomes more complex to keep track of items by their IP address.
One alternative, such as used by some schemes, defines a longer address, e.g., it uses more digits. This still requires some server to keep track of the addresses, in order to avoid address conflicts.